Unitil has continued to make progress through the overnight hours on its restoration efforts in the wake of a damaging snowstorm impacting the area Wednesday afternoon and evening.
As of 5:30 a.m. an estimated 8,750 of Unitil’s 105,000 electric customers system wide are reporting no power, down from a peak of approximately 31,000 Wednesday night. Nearly all of the remaining customers out reside in the greater Concord, NH area. However, new outages may continue to develop as trees heavily loaded with hazardous amounts of snow continue to break branches.
In Massachusetts and along the New Hampshire seacoast restoration efforts are down to single service issues. Crews from as far away as Canada are aiding with the restoration effort.
“We’d like to thank the state of New Hampshire, which provided beds in its fire training facility in Concord to some of the 150 crew resources working the system so we could keep resources local and hit the remaining outages hard this morning,” Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara said. “We are expecting a big push today as we work to get the remaining customers back on.”
If you are planning to use a generator today, please note that an improperly installed or positioned generator can cause exhaust, containing deadly carbon monoxide, to accumulate in your dwelling. Gas appliances that are not getting a sufficient supply of air can release carbon monoxide, a dangerous gas. Watch for things like yellow flames, flickering flames or soot that might indicate an appliance with a problem. Installing a carbon monoxide detector can help detect this odorless and colorless gas before it becomes a dangerous concern.
Unitil will be communicating throughout the storm and restoration through Public Service Announcements (PSAs), our customer call center and through the media. We also encourage customers to follow along with our storm updates via our Twitter feed (@Unitil), on Facebook and will be providing real-time outage information online at www.unitil.com/map.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR MEDIA: Unitil asks that when reporting outage information, outlets time stamp the information. Outage numbers change hourly, and we wish to make sure the information customers receive is consistent. Re-Tweets and re-posting of old information without referencing a time can create confusion.
Customers experiencing outages should call the following toll-free numbers:
- For the NH Seacoast Area: 1-800-582-7276
- For the NH Capital Area: 1-800-852-3339
- For Massachusetts: 1-888-301-7700
You can also report outages online at http://www.unitil.com/report-outage.
